Electronic device and user interface display method thereof

ABSTRACT

An electronic device and a user interface display method thereof are provided. The method organizes a plurality of computer programs and a web browser executable on the electronic device into a virtual book including a plurality of ordinary pages and a list page. Each ordinary page of the virtual book includes a user interface of one of the computer programs or a web page displayed by the web browser. When one of the ordinary pages is displayed as the current page, the user interface or the web page of the current page is accessible to the user of the electronic device. The list page includes a plurality of entries and each of the entries represents one of the ordinary pages.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of U.S.A. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 61/048,219, filed on Apr. 27, 2008. The entirety ofthe above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated byreference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electronic device. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a book-like userinterface of the electronic device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Modern handheld electronic devices, such as mobile phones, smart phones,and personal digital assistants (PDAs), have operating systems whoseuser interfaces (UIs) are comparable to those of desktop personalcomputers (PCs). The UI of a handheld electronic device provides variousfunctions and services to its user. Some of the functions and servicesare very popular and frequently used, such as web surfing, websearching, taking photos, displaying images and pictures, electronicmap, calculator, dictionary, organizing contact information, andtelephone communication.

Generally, these functions and services are accessible to users in theform of standalone applications, convenient widgets, or web pages. Forbeginners and casual users with little experiences of modern handheldelectronic devices, the variety and complexity of the UI may appearconfusing, even daunting. For example, some of the applications andwidgets are located on a desktop area of the UI. Some of theapplications and widgets are located on pop-up or pull-down menus. Someservices are provided as web pages which have to be selected from thebookmarks of a web browser. Sometimes this distributed nature of thefunctions and services is irritating even to experienced users.Moreover, the operating actions required for starting a widget, anapplication, and a web page may be very different. The operating actionsrequired to start an application on the desktop may be different fromthe operating actions required to start an application on a menu. Someapplications and widgets may be assigned to deeply nestled menus, whichare unobtrusive and difficult to find. All of these add to thedifficulty and confusion of using the UI of a handheld electronicdevice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a user interfacedisplay method for an electronic device. For example, the electronicdevice may be a handheld electronic device. The user interface displaymethod displays a book-like UI of the handheld electronic device.

The present invention is also directed to the electronic device whichexecutes the aforementioned user interface display method to display thebook-like UI.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a user interfacedisplay method for an electronic device is provided. The methodorganizes a plurality of computer programs and a web browser executableon the electronic device into a virtual book including a plurality ofordinary pages and a list page. Each ordinary page of the virtual bookincludes a user interface of one of the computer programs or a web pagedisplayed by the web browser. When one of the ordinary pages isdisplayed as the current page, the user interface or the web page of thecurrent page is accessible to the user of the electronic device. Thelist page includes a plurality of entries and each of the entriesrepresents one of the ordinary pages.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an electronicdevice executing the user interface display method is provided. Theelectronic device includes a touch panel and a display. The electronicdevice organizes a plurality of computer programs and a web browserexecutable on the electronic device into the aforementioned virtualbook. When one of the ordinary pages is displayed by the electronicdevice on the display as the current page, the user interface or the webpage of the current page is accessible to the user of the electronicdevice. The electronic device senses movement and/or pressure caused bythe user on the touch panel and interprets the movement and/or thepressure as operating actions of the user on the virtual book.

The electronic device may display the list page on the display inresponse to a predetermined operating action of the user. Thepredetermined operating action may be touching a touch button on theelectronic device, pressing a virtual button displayed on the virtualbook, an action interpreted by the electronic device as flipping thefront cover of the virtual book, or sliding from an end of the displayto another end of the display.

In response to a clicking action of the user on one of the entries ofthe list page, the electronic device may display the ordinary pagerepresented by the clicked entry on the display.

The electronic device may adjust the position of one of the ordinarypages in response to a dragging action of the user on the entry of thelist page representing the adjusted ordinary page.

The electronic device may delete one of the ordinary pages in responseto a predetermined operating action of the user on the list page. Thepredetermined operating action may include pressing a virtual buttondisplayed on the list page.

In response to a predetermined operating action of the user, theelectronic device may extract the user interface or the web page of oneof the ordinary pages as a new page and inserts the new page at apredetermined position in the virtual book. The new page displays theuser interface or the web page exclusively. The predetermined positionof the new page may be directly behind the extracted ordinary page. Theuser interface of the new page may belong to a photo browser executableon the electronic device and includes a photo selected by the user.

The list page may be a table-of-contents (TOC) page. In this case, theentries of the list page represent all of the ordinary pages of thevirtual book.

The virtual book may include a plurality of classification pages. Eachof the classification pages includes a plurality of entries representinga subset of the ordinary pages of the virtual book. The list page may beone of the classification pages. The subset corresponding to each of theclassification pages includes the ordinary pages between the particularclassification page and the next classification page or the bottom coverof the virtual book. The electronic device may render the classificationpages in different colors on the display.

The list page may include a tab on a side of the list page. In addition,the electronic device may display a word or a message assigned by theuser on the tab.

The user may operate this UI through a touch panel of the handheldelectronic device. The control mechanism connecting the operatingactions of the user on the touch panel and the displayed book-like UImay be provided by the hardware or software of the handheld electronicdevice.

The book-like UI proposed by the present invention unifies applications,widgets, and web pages into book pages, enabling the user to browse,use, and manage the functions and services in an intuitive andconvenient way like browsing a conventional printed book. By using thebook-like UI, the user does not have to worry about whether a functionor service is provided by a widget, an application, or a web pagebecause the operating actions for using and managing them are all thesame. Furthermore, the problem of unobtrusive nestled menus no longerexists because the book pages are on the same level and the only levelof display.

The user may operate the book-like UI by touching or sliding on thetouch panel with his or her finger. Since the touch panel is integratedon the handheld electronic device, the user may operate on the devicedirectly. The handheld electronic device of the present invention iscompact and is able to receive the operation of the user and display thebook-like UI simultaneously. The handheld electronic device does notneed a separate external input device for receiving user operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are schematic diagrams showing arrangement of touchpanels on handheld electronic devices according to various embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional resistivetouch panel.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional capacitivetouch panel.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are schematic diagrams showing a virtual bookdisplayed by a handheld electronic device according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 4C-4E are schematic diagrams showing a virtual book displayed by ahandheld electronic device according to another embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 5A-5D are schematic diagrams showing a book-like UI of a handheldelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a table-of-contents page in thebook-like UI in FIGS. 5A-5D.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the flipping of book pages in thebook-like UI in FIGS. 5A-5D.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are schematic diagrams showing stand-up views of avirtual book displayed by a handheld electronic device according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 10A-10D are schematic diagrams showing the flow of deleting a bookpage in the book-like UI of a handheld electronic device according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 11A-11D are schematic diagrams showing the flow of converting thedisplay contents of a book page into a new page in the book-like UI of ahandheld electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a book page download service inthe book-like UI of a handheld electronic device according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 13A-13C are schematic diagrams showing notifications implementedin the book-like UI of a handheld electronic device according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a feature for rapid switchingbetween two book pages in the book-like UI of a handheld electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the function menu of a book page in thebook-like UI of a handheld electronic device according to an embodimentof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in thedrawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

The book-like UI of a handheld electronic device proposed by the presentinvention organizes applications, widgets, and web pages into pages of avirtual book. Each page of the virtual book is the UI of a service orfunction of the handheld electronic device. Flipping the pages of thevirtual book means browsing and selecting the services and functionsprovided by the handheld electronic device. This book-like UI enablesthe user to use and manage these applications, widgets, and web pages inan easy and intuitive way like browsing a conventional printed book. Thebook-like UI hides the differences among applications, widgets, and webpages so that the handheld electronic device can be accessed through auniform and convenient UI.

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram showing a handheld electronic device withthe book-like UI according to an embodiment of the present invention.The handheld electronic device in FIG. 1A includes a casing 100, a touchpanel 110, and a display 120. The touch panel 110 not only covers thedisplay 120 but also extends beyond the boundary of the display 120. Theextended portion of the touch panel 110 may be located on the upperside, lower side, right side, or left side of the display 120. In FIG.1A, it is the lower side on which the extended portion is located. Theextended portion of the touch panel 110 includes a flip bar 140 and twobuttons 130 and 150. The user may slide one of his/her fingers on theflip bar 140 or press the buttons 130 and 150. The handheld electronicdevice senses the movement on the flip bar 140 and the pressure on thebuttons 130 and 150 through the touch panel 110, and then interpret themovement and pressure into operating actions of the user for thebook-like UI. Since the touch panel 110 can also sense pressure andmovement on the display 120, in some other embodiments of the presentinvention the operating actions may be performed on the display 120 aswell.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing a design variation of thehandheld electronic device in FIG. 1A according to another embodiment ofthe present invention. The handheld electronic device in FIG. 1Bincludes two touch panels 160 and 170. The touch panel 160 has the samedimensions as those of the display 120 and the touch panel 160 coversthe display 120. The touch panel 170 is separate from the touch panel160 and is located on one side of the touch panel 160. The touch panel170 includes the flip bar 140 and the buttons 130 and 150. Except thedifferences mentioned above, the handheld electronic device in FIG. 1Bis identical to the handheld electronic device in FIG. 1A.

Each one of the touch panels 110, 160, and 170 may be a resistive touchpanel as shown in FIG. 2 or a capacitive touch panel as shown in FIG. 3.A resistive touch panel consists of an indium tin oxide (ITO) film, ITOglass, and some dot spacers (DOT) in between. When a finger or stylustouches the ITO film, the ITO film contacts with the ITO glass andgenerates voltage variation. The handheld electronic device converts thevoltage variation from analog signals into digital signals and thenprocesses the digital signals to obtain the (X, Y) position of thetouch. In this way the handheld electronic device can detect the touchand movement of the finger or stylus on the resistive touch panel. Onthe other hand, a capacitive touch panel consists of silicon oxide(SiO₂), ITO, and glass, as shown in FIG. 3. A smooth electric field isestablished on the surface of the glass. When the finger or styluscontacts with the ITO, the variation of the electric field is detectedby four sensors disposed at the four corners of the capacitive touchpanel in order to locate the contact.

The purpose of the flip bar 140 is separating operating actions forflipping the virtual book from operating actions for the UI of a bookpage. Operating actions on the display 120 control the current bookpage, while operating actions on the flip bar 140 flip the virtual book.For example, assume a book page is an application for browsing photos.The user may turn to the next photo by a rapid stroke with his/herfinger on the display 120. The user may flip to the next book page(switch to the next function or service of the handheld electronicdevice) by the same rapid stroke on the flip bar 140. The same action bythe user is interpreted into different events according to the area inwhich the action is performed. If the next book page is a music channelbroadcast service, the same rapid stroke on the display 120 may meanswitching to the next music channel, while the same rapid stroke on theflip bar 140 still means flipping to the next book page of the virtualbook.

In another embodiment of the present invention, both the operatingactions for the current book page and the operating actions for flippingthe virtual book may be performed on the display 120. In this case,these two classes of operating actions can no longer share the sameaction. For example, the operating actions for switching to the nextmusic channel and flipping to the next virtual book page have to bedifferent. The difference may be implemented as the existence ornon-existence of a brief pause. If the finger slides rapidly without apause or with a pause shorter than a predetermined duration, this actionis interpreted as flipping the virtual book. If the finger pauses forlonger than the predetermined duration and then slides rapidly, thisaction is interpreted as switching to the next music channel. In thisembodiment the handheld electronic device does not need a separate flipbar 140. However, such a design limits the option of operating actionsavailable to a virtual book page because some operating actions must beassigned to the virtual book flipping.

In additional to a finger, the user may also use a stylus to perform anyoperating action for the book-like UI mentioned above or below. Sincethe display, the touch panel, the flip bar, and the buttons are allintegrated on the compact handheld electronic device, the user mayoperate by touching the display or the flip bar directly without theneed for a separate input device for receiving user operation.

When the handheld electronic device is idle, it displays an idle screenas shown in FIG. 4A. The idle screen shows a virtual book 400 in azoom-out view including the cover and the thickness of the virtual book400. The virtual book 400 is a loose-leaf notebook with a zipper 410.The zipper 410 represents a screen lock function. The user may drag theslider of the zipper 410 with a finger sliding along the zipper 410 onthe display 120. When the slider of the zipper 410 is dragged to thebottom as shown in FIG. 4A, the handheld electronic device is under ascreen lock. The user may drag the slider of the zipper 410 to the top,as shown in FIG. 4B, to unlock the screen.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the screen lock may berepresented by other images and the screen may be unlocked with variousoperating actions. FIG. 4C, FIG. 4D, and FIG. 4E illustrate anotherexample of the screen lock function. In FIGS. 4C-4E, the virtual book420 is rendered in the form of a magazine. The cover of the magazineshows the current date and the current time. The area 421 shows thatthere are three missed telephone calls, two unread messages, and oneschedule notification. The presence of the ribbon 422 and the padlock423 means that the screen is locked. The user may unlock the screen by ahorizontal long slide of the finger along the ribbon 422. After thehorizontal long slide, the ribbon 422 is untied, as shown in FIG. 4D.After a predetermined brief duration, the ribbon 422 and the padlock 423disappear, as shown in FIG. 4E, which means the screen is unlocked. Thearea 421 in FIG. 4E displays more detailed summary of the missed calls,unread messages and schedule notification.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing a handheld electronic device 500according to another embodiment of the present invention. Forsimplicity, the touch panel is not shown in FIG. 5A. A virtual book 520and its cover page 521 are shown in the zoom-out view on the display 510of the handheld electronic device 500. When the user flips the coverpage 521 (details later), as shown in FIG. 5B, at first the handheldelectronic device 500 displays the cover page 521, the table-of-contents(TOC) page 522, and the first book page 523 of the virtual book 520 atthe same time. The cover page 521 is fully flipped and the TOC page 522is partially flipped. The first book page 523 is partially obscured.Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, the TOC page 522 becomes fully flipped andthe first book page 523 is fully revealed. Next, as shown in FIG. 5D,the first book page 523 is displayed in a zoom-in view and occupies theentire display 510. The zoom-in view provides a clearer view to the userso that the user can focus on the function or service of the currentbook page.

From the first book page 523, the user may flip the virtual book 520 tothe next page or to the previous page. The flow is similar to that shownin FIGS. 5A-5D except that only one page is turned over. When the useris using a book page, this current book page is displayed in the zoom-inview. When the user flips the current book page, as shown in FIGS.5A-5D, the animation of flipping the virtual book is displayed in thezoom-out view until the flipping is finished, and then the destinationpage is displayed in the zoom-in view.

If the user flips from the first book page 523 to its previous bookpage, the TOC page 522 is displayed as shown in FIG. 6. The TOC page 522lists all book pages of the virtual book 520. The user may turn to anypage immediately by clicking the list entry corresponding to the desiredbook page with a finger.

The handheld electronic device 500 may provide a preference option forthe user to determine the destination page when the user flips the coverpage 521 of the virtual book 520. According to the preference option,the destination page may be the TOC page 522, the first book page 523,or a book page other than the first book page 523 predetermined by theuser.

The user may flip the pages of the virtual book by sliding a finger onthe display or the flip bar of the handheld electronic device. In thisembodiment, a finger slide is classified into a slow slide or a fastslide according to its speed. If a finger moves with a speed lower thana predetermined speed threshold, it is classified as a slow slide. If afinger moves with a speed higher than the predetermined speed threshold,it is classified as a fast slide. A fast slide is further classified asa fast short slide or a fast long slide according to its distance. Ifthe distance of a fast slide is shorter than a predetermined distancethreshold, it is classified as a fast short slide. If the distance of afast slide is longer than the predetermined distance threshold, it isclassified as a fast long slide. The following Table 1 summarizes theclassification of finger slides.

TABLE 1 Finger slide classification according to speed and distanceShort distance Long distance Low speed Slow slide High speed Fast shortslide Fast long slide

The flipping of the pages of the virtual book is classified into twotypes, single flipping and continuous flipping. The user may perform asingle flipping with a fast slide and performs a continuous flippingwith a slow slide.

In a single flipping, the user flips the virtual book from the currentpage to a destination page. The flipping animation shows only thecurrent page being flipped, as shown in FIG. 5B. No matter how manypages are actually between the current page and the destination page,the intervening pages are simply skipped over. As shown in the followingTable 2, there are three rules for the single flipping. The handheldelectronic device may implement any one of the three rules. Rule 1 isthe simplest, in which a fast slide always flips one book page. In rule2, a fast short slide flips only one book page and a fast long slideflips a predetermined number of book pages. The predetermined number maybe set by the user. For example, a fast long slide may flip 5 or 10pages of the virtual book. In rule 3, a fast short slide flips only onebook page and a fast long slide flips a number of book pagesproportional to the slide distance.

TABLE 2 Rules of single flipping Rule 1 Rule 2 Rule 3 A fast slide Afast short slide flips one A fast short slide flips one always flipsbook page. A fast long book page. A fast long one book page. slide flipsa predetermined slide flips a number of number of book pages. book pagesproportional to the slide distance.

In a continuous flipping, several book pages are flipped at the sametime as a slow slide of the user moves across the flip bar. The flippingcontinues until the user reaches the desired destination page and stopsthe slow slide. The flipping animation shows all the pages beingflipped, as shown in FIG. 7. There are three rules for the continuousflipping as summarized in the following Table 3. In rule 1, a book pageis flipped each time when the finger slides across a predeterminednumber of pixels on the flip bar. For example, this predetermined numbermay be 60 pixels. In this case, one book page is flipped when a fingerof the user slides across 60 pixels on the flip bar. Two book pages areflipped when the finger slides across 120 pixels on the flip bar, and soon. The number of book pages being flipped is proportional to the numberof pixels the slow slide passes.

In rule 2, the first book page is flipped when the finger slides acrossa first predetermined number of pixels on the flip bar, and then afollowing book page is flipped each time when the finger slides across asecond predetermined number of pixels on the flip bar. For example, thefirst predetermined number may be 60 pixels and the second predeterminednumber may be 15 pixels. In this case, the second and the latter bookpages are flipped faster in rule 2 than they are in rule 1.

In both rule 1 and rule 2 of the continuous flipping, when the finger ofthe user reaches an end of the flip bar, the continuous flipping maysimply stop. If the user wants to continue flipping in this case, he/shehas to perform another slow slide across the flip bar. Alternatively,the flipping may continue when the finger of the user reaches one end ofthe flip bar.

In rule 3, the flip bar is used like a scroll bar. The ratio of thenumber of book pages being turned to the total number of book pages isequal to the ratio of the distance of the slow slide to the total lengthof the flip bar.

TABLE 3 Rules of continuous flipping Rule 1 Rule 2 Rule 3 Flip a pageeach time Flip a page when the finger slides The flip when the fingerslides across a first predetermined number bar is across a predeterminedof pixels on the flip bar, and then flip used like a number of pixels ona page each time when the finger scroll bar. the flip bar. slides acrossa second predetermined number of pixels on the flip bar.

In addition to the “forward” continuous flipping discussed above, thehandheld electronic device may also support “backward” continuousflipping. After a forward continuous flipping, the user may perform abackward continuous flipping by slowly sliding a finger in a directionopposite to the direction of the previous forward continuous flipping.The backward continuous flipping can be used to return to the desiredbook page when the user accidentally flips too many pages with theforward continuous flipping. There are two rules for the backwardcontinuous flipping as summarized in the following Table 4.

TABLE 4 Rules of backward continuous flipping Rule 1 Rule 2 Flip a pageeach time when the Each of the first few pages is flipped finger slidesacross a when the finger slides across a first predetermined number ofpixels predetermined number of pixels on the on the flip bar. flip bar.Each of the following pages is flipped when the finger slides across asecond predetermined number of pixels on the flip bar.

In rule 1 of the backward continuous flipping, each time when a fingerof the user slides across a predetermined number of pixels on the flipbar, one book page is flipped. For example, this predetermined numbermay be 25 pixels. In this case, the flipping speed of the backwardcontinuous flipping is slower than that of rule 2 of the forwardcontinuous flipping (15 pixels per page). The reason for the slowerspeed is that it is easier to find the desired book page at a slowerspeed.

Rule 2 of the backward continuous flipping implements two differentflipping speeds. In rule 2, each of the first few pages is flipped whenthe finger slides across a first predetermined number of pixels on theflip bar, and each of the following pages is flipped when the fingerslides across a second predetermined number of pixels on the flip bar.For example, the first predetermined number may be 25 pixels, the secondpredetermined number may be 15 pixels, and the first few pages mentionedabove may be the first three pages.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the user may flip thebook pages by pressing the display or the flip bar of the handheldelectronic device with a finger. If the pressure of the finger is lowerthan a predetermined pressure threshold, it is classified as a lightpress. If the pressure of the finger is higher than the predeterminedpressure threshold, it is classified as a heavy press. The user mayperform a single flipping with a light press and a continuous flippingwith a heavy press. In the continuous flipping, the flipping speed maybe proportional to the pressure. The handheld electronic device sensesthe contact pressure or the contact area of the finger on the touchpanel in order to estimate the pressure of the finger.

The handheld electronic device may include some buttons for rapidswitching to predetermined pages of the virtual book. For example,please refer to FIG. 1A. The handheld electronic device in FIG. 1Aincludes two touch buttons 130 and 150. Touching the button 130 flipsthe virtual book to the TOC page, while touching the button 150 flipsthe virtual book to the telephone page. In other embodiments of thepresent invention, such rapid switching buttons may be assigned to otherbook pages. The assignment may be default or determined by the user. Thenumber and positions of the rapid switching buttons may be adjustedaccording to practical requirement. The rapid switching buttons may bephysical buttons installed on the casing of the handheld electronicdevice or virtual touch buttons implemented on the touch panel of thehandheld electronic device.

The virtual book may be rendered as a loose-leaf notebook which allowsthe user to adjust the positions of its book pages. Please refer to FIG.8. The virtual book 800 is a loose-leaf notebook. In order to adjust theposition of a book page, the user has to flip to the book page first,and then presses the book page for a predetermined duration. Thispredetermined duration may be a few seconds. If the current book page ispressed for the predetermined duration, the virtual book is displayed ina stand-up view as shown in FIG. 8. In the stand-up view, the user maypress the switch 830 with a finger to unlock the current book page. Theunlocked book page becomes a loose leaf 810. The user may drag the looseleaf 810 horizontally with a finger to adjust the position of the looseleaf 810. When the user releases his/her finger, the loose leaf 810returns to the form of a book page and is attached to the new position.

In addition to moving a book page in the stand-up view, the user mayalso adjust the position of a book page by dragging the table entrycorresponding to the book page in the TOC page.

The book pages with small tabs in the stand-up view in FIG. 8, such asthe book page 820, are classification pages. The classification pagesare designed for advanced users who need to organize a lot of bookpages. Each classification page is a small TOC page including tableentries corresponding to all book pages between the classification pageand the next classification page or the bottom cover of the virtualbook. The classification pages may be rendered with different colors foreasier management and identification. Moreover, the user may assignwords or messages for identification to the tabs of the classificationpages.

In addition to moving book pages in the stand-up view, the user may alsoperform single flipping and continuous flipping in the stand-up view.Since the stand-up view displays many book pages at the same time, theuser may turn to a book page directly by clicking on the book page witha finger.

Now please refer to FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, the stand-up view includes anindex button 840. The user may press the index button 840 with a fingerto turn to the TOC page directly. Alternatively, the user may flip tothe TOC page immediately by sliding a finger from the left end of thescreen to the right end of the screen or from the right end of thescreen to the left end of the screen. In other embodiments of thepresent invention, a finger slide from the left end of the screen to theright end of the screen may activate a predetermined function other thanflipping to the TOC page. Similarly, a finger slide from the right endof the screen to the left end of the screen may activate anotherdifferent predetermined function.

The user may delete a book page in the stand-up view. FIGS. 10A-10Dillustrate an exemplary flow of deleting a book page. First, as shown inFIG. 10A, the user flips the virtual book to a book page 1010 and thenpresses the page 1010 with a finger for a predetermined time duration.If the book page 1010 is pressed for the predetermined time duration,the display changes from the zoom-in view to the stand-up view. Next,the user presses the button 1020 and the book page 1010 becomes a looseleaf, as shown in FIG. 10B. The user may drag the loose leaf 1010downward with a finger, as shown in FIG. 10C. During the downward drag,the loose leaf 1010 crushes into waste paper. A dialog box 1030 appearsto prompt the user to confirm the deletion, as shown in FIG. 10D. If theuser selects “Yes” in the dialog box 1030, the book page 1010 is deletedfrom the virtual book.

For some functions and services provided by the handheld electronicdevice, the display contents of their book pages may be extracted tobecome new book pages. For example, the photo currently displayed by aphoto browser application may be extracted to become a new book page.This new book page only displays the extracted photo and does notinclude the other functions of the photo browser. Similarly, the webpage currently displayed by a web browser may be extracted to become anew book page. This new book page only accesses the extracted web page.

FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate an exemplary flow of adding a new book page byextraction. Assume the current book page 1010 is a photo browserapplication and the user wants to extract the photo currently beingdisplayed to become a new book page. First, the user presses the currentpage 1010 for a predetermined time duration, as shown in FIG. 11A. Afterthe user presses the current page 1010 for the predetermined timeduration, the display changes from the zoom-in view to the stand-upview. In the stand-up view, the user presses the button 1020 and thecurrent page 1010 becomes a loose leaf, as shown in FIG. 11B. The usermay drag the loose leaf 1010 upward with a finger, as shown in FIG. 11C.When the upward drag is complete, a dialog box 1040 appears to promptthe user to confirm the extraction, as shown in FIG. 11D. If the userselects “Yes” in the dialog box 1040, the photo displayed on the bookpage 1010 becomes a new book page. This new book page may be directlybehind the book page 1010. Alternatively, the position of this new bookpage may be determined by the user. If the book page 1010 is a webbrowser, the flow of extraction is the same as that illustrated in FIGS.11A-11D.

Another way to delete or extract a book page is provided in the TOC pageof the virtual book. The TOC page may include an “edit” button. When theuser presses the edit button, a context menu appears on top of the TOCpage. By selecting appropriate functions in the context menu, the usermay delete a book page or extract the current display contents of a bookpage as a new book page.

The virtual book of the handheld electronic device is expandable. Theuser may connect to a download server through the handheld electronicdevice to download additional book pages. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagramshowing a book page 1200 providing access to the download server. Thebook page 1200 represents the downloadable book pages in the form of thecards of a library catalog. The cards are arranged as a stack. Each cardis corresponding to a downloadable book page. The user may scroll up orscroll down the stack to browse the cards. There are classificationcards, such as the cards 1210 and 1220, interleaved in the stack toorganize the cards into several categories, such as office applicationsand games. The downloadable book pages may include various widgets,applications, services, and classification pages.

The middle card in the stack, such as the card 1230 in FIG. 12, showssummary introduction of its corresponding downloadable book page. Themiddle card 1230 also shows a preview 1240 of its correspondingdownloadable book page. The user may click on the preview 1240 with afinger to see a full-screen view of the UI of the downloadable bookpage. If the user is interested, he/she may download this book page fromthe download server by clicking the download button 1250 with a finger.When the download is complete, this book page is added into the virtualbook of the handheld electronic device.

FIG. 12 is just an example. In some other embodiments of the presentinvention, the downloadable book pages may be represented in differentways. For example, the UI in FIG. 12 may be adjusted to have each cardshow summary introduction and a preview of its correspondingdownloadable book pages.

A predetermined number of pages of the virtual book may be reserved forcorporate operators of wireless service networks. These operator bookpages may provide various services of the operators. For example, one ofthe operator book pages may display advertisements pushed from one ofthe operator. Moreover, the pushed advertisement may be updated atpredetermined time intervals. The operator book pages are morenoticeable to the user and are easier to find than conventional menuoptions. The operator book pages may be built-in, which already existwhen the user purchases the handheld electronic device. If the userwants more operator book pages, he/she may download additional operatorbook pages from the download server mentioned above.

Now please refer to FIG. 13A. FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram showing abook page 1300 and a dialog box 1310. The dialog box 1310 is rendered asa sticky note attached to the book page 1300. The dialog box 1310notifies the user that there is an incoming short message and askswhether the user would like to view the short message or ignore it fornow. If the user chooses to view the short message, the short message isdisplayed. If the user chooses to ignore the short message, as shown inFIG. 13B, a small icon 1320 appears on top of the book page 1300 toremind the user that there is an unviewed short message. In addition,the handheld electronic device may notify the user of important events,such as an incoming e-mail, an incoming phone call, or the low voltagelevel of the battery, with a similar sticky note dialog box on the bookpage.

When the handheld electronic device is in the idle mode, the handheldelectronic device displays an idle screen which shows the virtual bookin the zoom-out view, as shown in FIG. 13C. In the idle screen, thehandheld electronic device may notify the user of important events witha sticky note attached to the cover of the virtual book. If there ismore than one important event, the handheld electronic device mayconsolidate them into a single sticky note, as shown in FIG. 13C. InFIG. 13C, the display 1300 of the handheld electronic device shows avirtual book 1330 in the zoom-out view. A sticky note 1340 is attachedto the cover of the virtual book 1330. There are several icons on thesticky note 1340 representing various event notification. The icon 1341stands for an incoming phone call. The icon 1342 stands for an incomingshort message. The icon 1343 stands for an incoming e-mail. There may beother icons representing other types of important events.

The virtual book may provide a “fast return” function, which allows theuser to switch from a first book page to a second book page and thenreturn to the first book page rapidly. For example, when the user is ina telephone conversation and wants to check the address of a friend, theuser may turn to the book page of the address book through the fastreturn function. FIG. 14 shows the address book page 1400 with a foldedcorner 1410. The folded corner is displayed by the fast return function.After the address checking, the user may return to the telephone bookpage rapidly by touching the folded corner 1410 with a finger.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the function menu of a book page of thevirtual book. The steps S1510-S1570 in FIG. 15 show the UI of a bookpage 1581 providing short message service (SMS) in different situations.The flow begins at step S1510.

First, the book page 1581 displays a preview of a short message 1582(step S1510). The user may presses a “sub-menu” button (not shown) toreveal a menu 1583 of the book page 1581 (step S1520). The “sub-menu”button may be a physical button installed on the handheld electronicdevice, a touch button implemented on the touch panel of the handheldelectronic device, or a virtual button displayed on the book page 1581.The menu 1583 is revealed by a visual effect of uncovering the lowerpart of the book page 1581 and revealing the menu 1583 beneath the bookpage 1581. The menu 1583 includes four options, namely, creating a newshort message (new), replying the short message (reply), forwarding theshort message (forward), and deleting the short message (delete). Theuser may select any one of the options with a finger.

If the user selects the “new” option of the menu 1583, the flow goes tostep S1530. The handheld electronic device displays a keyboard 1584 forthe user to enter a new short message. If the user selects the “reply”option of the menu 1583, the flow goes to step S1540. The handheldelectronic device displays the keyboard 1584 for the user to reply tothe short message 1582.

If the user touches the short message 1582 with a finger at step S1510,the flow goes to step S1550. The handheld electronic device displays theentire short message 1582 for viewing. The user may presses the“sub-menu” button to reveal another menu 1585 of the book page 1581(step S1560). Similarly, the menu 1585 is revealed by a visual effect ofuncovering the lower part of the book page 1581. The menu 1585 includesthree options, namely, replying the short message (reply), forwardingthe short message (forward), and deleting the short message (delete).The user may select any one of the options with a finger. If the userselects the “reply” option, the flow goes to step S1570. The handheldelectronic device displays the keyboard 1584 for the user to reply tothe short message 1582.

Each page of the virtual book may reveal its own function menu in theway mentioned above. The functions menus of the book pages may bedifferent according to the functions and services provided by the bookpages.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A user interface display method for an electronic device, comprising:organizing a plurality of computer programs and a web browser executableon the electronic device into a virtual book comprising a plurality ofordinary pages and a list page, wherein each ordinary page of thevirtual book comprises a user interface of one of the computer programsor a web page displayed by the web browser; when one of the ordinarypages is displayed as a current page, the user interface or the web pageof the current page is accessible to a user of the electronic device;the list page comprises a plurality of entries and each of the entriesrepresents one of the ordinary pages.
 2. The user interface displaymethod of claim 1, further comprising: displaying the list page inresponse to a predetermined operating action of the user.
 3. The userinterface display method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined operatingaction is touching a touch button on the electronic device, pressing avirtual button displayed on the virtual book, an action interpreted bythe electronic device as flipping a front cover of the virtual book, orsliding from an end of a display of the electronic device to another endof the display.
 4. The user interface display method of claim 1, furthercomprising: in response to a clicking action of the user on one of theentries of the list page, displaying the ordinary page represented bythe clicked entry.
 5. The user interface display method of claim 1,further comprising: adjusting a position of one of the ordinary pages inresponse to a dragging action of the user on the entry of the list pagerepresenting the adjusted ordinary page.
 6. The user interface displaymethod of claim 1, further comprising: extracting the user interface orthe web page of one of the ordinary pages as a new page and insertingthe new page at a predetermined position in the virtual book, whereinthe new page displays the user interface or the web page exclusively. 7.The user interface display method of claim 6, wherein the predeterminedposition is directly behind the extracted ordinary page.
 8. The userinterface display method of claim 1, wherein the list page is atable-of-contents (TOC) page and the entries represent all of theordinary pages of the virtual book.
 9. The user interface display methodof claim 1, wherein the virtual book comprises a plurality ofclassification pages, each of the classification pages comprises aplurality of entries representing a subset of the ordinary pages of thevirtual book, and the list page is one of the classification pages. 10.The user interface display method of claim 9, wherein the subsetcorresponding to one of the classification pages comprises the ordinarypages between said classification page and the next classification pageor a bottom cover of the virtual book.
 11. An electronic device,comprising: a touch panel; and a display; wherein the electronic deviceorganizes a plurality of computer programs and a web browser executableon the electronic device into a virtual book comprising a plurality ofordinary pages and a list page; each ordinary page of the virtual bookcomprises a user interface of one of the computer programs or a web pagedisplayed by the web browser; the list page comprises a plurality ofentries and each of the entries represents one of the ordinary pages;when one of the ordinary pages is displayed by the electronic device onthe display as a current page, the user interface or the web page of thecurrent page is accessible to a user of the electronic device; theelectronic device senses movement and/or pressure caused by the user onthe touch panel and interprets the movement and/or the pressure asoperating actions of the user on the virtual book.
 12. The electronicdevice of claim 11, wherein the electronic device displays the list pageon the display in response to a predetermined operating action of theuser.
 13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein, in response to aclicking action of the user on one of the entries of the list page, theelectronic device displays the ordinary page represented by the clickedentry on the display.
 14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein theelectronic device adjusts a position of one of the ordinary pages inresponse to a dragging action of the user on the entry of the list pagerepresenting the adjusted ordinary page.
 15. The electronic device ofclaim 11, wherein, in response to a predetermined operating action ofthe user, the electronic device extracts the user interface or the webpage of one of the ordinary pages as a new page and inserts the new pageat a predetermined position in the virtual book, wherein the new pagedisplays the user interface or the web page exclusively.
 16. Theelectronic device of claim 15, wherein the predetermined position isdirectly behind the extracted ordinary page.
 17. The electronic deviceof claim 11, wherein the list page is a table-of-contents (TOC) page andthe entries represent all of the ordinary pages of the virtual book. 18.The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the virtual book comprises aplurality of classification pages, each of the classification pagescomprises a plurality of entries representing a subset of the ordinarypages of the virtual book, and the list page is one of theclassification pages.
 19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein thesubset corresponding to one of the classification pages comprises theordinary pages between said classification page and the nextclassification page or a bottom cover of the virtual book.